Some people are so concerned with appearances that they cannot admit any faults. For example, many people, especially men, are afraid to show weakness.
Why You Are Afraid of Showing Weakness
Being afraid of showing weakness is a sign of insecurity. Insecure people are often concerned with how others feel about them and want to hide character traits they are not happy with. A confident person accepts their good and bad characteristics and has no problem admitting their weak points.
If you are truly confident, you will accept your weaknesses along with your strengths. Everyone has good and bad traits; nobody is perfect. It is unrealistic to expect not to have any weaknesses. Accepting your weakness is a sign of strength and will help you grow as a person.
Don’t Show Weakness is Bad Advice
I was writing a blog post on Sending a Girl a Confirmation for a Date and was curious to see other people’s thoughts on the subject. I saw one video where a guy said you should not confirm a date with a girl because it is “communicating weakness.” I instantly cringed at that part of the video because of how ridiculous and immature that statement is.
Only a weak man would be scared of communicating weakness when confirming a date, and only an insecure man would worry about showing weakness in general. It was shocking to me that a grown man who would make such an insecure statement was making videos giving advice to other men. This video was deeply cringeworthy.
The truth of it is that a confident person would not care if someone else thinks they are weak. A confident person knows who and what they are and accepts themselves. Confident people do not need recognition from others. Insecure people are always trying to hide their weaknesses, and a confident person will accept the reality of who they are. This doesn’t mean confident people do not need to grow. Everyone needs to improve something, but confident people are comfortable with their flaws even when they want to work on them.
The Problem With Being Afraid of Showing Weakness
If you are constantly afraid of showing weakness, this could hinder you in your life. It could hold you back from taking chances or doing things you want to do. Fear can overtake your life and limit you if you let it.
Accepting the fear and moving on with your life would be better. Showing weakness is not the end of the world, and most of the things you think will show fear probably will not. For example, the man who said confirming a date “communicates weakness” is just wrong. It communicates that you are polite and considerate. All the women I know like it when a man confirms a date. He was just wrong, and he was wrong because of his own insecurity.
When you are insecure, you look for problems in yourself. Insecurity makes you want to hide who you are because you fear judgment. That guy thinks it is a sign of weakness to do something polite because he feels weak and does not want others to see it. His insecurity makes him see everything as a weakness where others do not.
It is much better to put aside insecurities and do what is best for you and those around you rather than letting fear of showing weakness hold you back in life.
The Fear of Weakness is Arrogance not Confidence
There is a difference between arrogance and confidence. Most importantly, arrogant people are concerned with how others perceive them and try to fake confidence, which never works. Trying to hide weakness will project arrogance more than confidence because it is a fear of how others perceive you. Confident people don’t worry about what others think of them as much as arrogant and insecure people do.
I have another post if you want to read more about the Difference between Confidence and Arrogance.
Work on Yourself
If you are often worried about showing weakness, taking the time to work on yourself can help. One way to build confidence is to set goals, work hard at achieving them, and then reflect on your accomplishments. When you make a promise to yourself, and you fulfill that commitment, this builds confidence. When you identify an area you need to work on, this builds confidence. When you build confidence, you will not have to worry about things like showing weakness, as it won’t matter to you anymore.
